


Eddie for Auction

by tinyarmedtrex



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: 16-17, Aged Up, And a random girl is bidding on him?, Eddie's being auction off, M/M, Someone please bid on poor Eddie, Total Fluff, just a sweet little fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:52:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13598154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyarmedtrex/pseuds/tinyarmedtrex
Summary: Eddie's mom signed him up for the annual Derry Auction where women will bid on him. He's dreading it from beginning to end.





	Eddie for Auction

“Next up we have Eddie Kaspbrak. Eddie is going into his senior year at Derry High School. His interests include rock collecting and math!” 

Eddie cringed. It was bad enough that he was up here, being auctioned off. It was even worse that his mom had written his info card. 

It was the annual Derry charity auction. Men were auctioned off for women to bid on and the money went to help the town. Eddie had escaped it every year until now, when his mom insisted that he needed to start dating and not spend so much time with the losers. He had protested but had lost. She thought it was a charming tradition and talked endlessly about how maybe he’d meet the girl of his dreams this way. She had been talking about it for weeks, and insisted on picking out his outfit too. An itchy long sleeved shirt and khakis. Perfect for standing in the summer heat. 

He thought back to telling the others. 

\-----

“I’m doing it too Eddie, it won’t be that bad.” Ben said, smiling at him.

Eddie pinched his lips together, “But Bev will bid on you. You don’t have to worry.” He turned to Bev. “Any chance you want to buy me too?” 

She shook her head, “Only one man per person. No polyamory allowed in our small town.” 

“How much would it take to convince you to buy me instead?” Eddie asked, mostly jokingly. 

“Nope, sorry. I can’t let Ben go to someone else. I’m way too jealous for that shit.” She said, kissing Eddie’s cheek. “You’ll just have to accept that someone random will buy you.” 

Eddie groaned. He had always hated this stupid auction. Being paraded in front of all the local girls sounded awful. It didn’t help that Eddie had no interest in the local women, or women at all because he was gay. The losers knew too but he hadn’t told his mom. He couldn’t. And now he was paying the price.

“What about asking Bill or Stan?” Ben asked. 

Eddie shook his head, “Oh no, that’s too progressive. A woman has to bid. No same sex shenanigans here.” He scowled. 

As much as he would appreciate one of them bidding on him the person he wanted to go on a date with was Richie. He had a huge crush on his best friend but couldn’t tell him, too afraid to lose what they had. 

Richie pulled Eddie close. They were in Bill’s basement, the normal hang out spot. “Who wouldn’t want an adorable Eddie Spaghetti? You should let me write your card. I’ll tell them all about the cute way you scrunch your nose and how much you love nicknames.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I don’t know who I want writing it less- you or my mom.”

Richie pretended to be offended. “She’ll probably put stamp collecting or something awful.” He leaned in and whispered in Eddie’s ear, “I know what you like Eds.”

Eddie shivered and turned to him, trying to keep his blush down. “Men. I like men. This will be awful.” He moaned again. Richie laughed and squeezed his shoulder. 

Bill shrugged, “S-s-sorry. At least it’s only one date?” He added. 

“I just hope Greta doesn’t bid on me. Or someone awful.” He buried his head in his hands. “I want this over with.” He mumbled. 

Stan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It won’t be that bad. We’ll all be there to cheer you on.”

Eddie gave him a small smile. “Thanks.” 

“Yea, we need to see what kind of ladies Eddie attracts!” Richie said. 

Eddie groaned again, already feeling the embarrassment of the whole situation.

\-----

Pulling himself back to the present, Eddie stepped forward, letting the announce talk more about his interests. None of them were things Eddie actually enjoyed but it was easier to let his mom dictate what the card said. She was hoping it would attract a ‘nice girl’. Eddie was torn between hoping that it didn’t attract anyone and worried about how embarrassed he would be if no one bid on him. Both sounded awful. 

“Give us a a walk and a spin Eddie!” The announcer said, gesturing down the makeshift cat walk.

Eddie groaned inwardly and started to walk. He saw his friends all waving at him from the back. Bev had already won Ben, he had a sash on that said ‘TAKEN’ and was grinning broadly. 

Eddie’s eyes caught Richie’s and he saw Richie wink at him and mouth ‘sexy’ as he walked. Eddie flushed and turned back to his place in line. 

He tuned out the announcer again, thinking back to a few days ago, when he and Richie were walking home from school.  

\-----

“You really have to go on a date with her afterwards?” Richie asked.

Eddie nodded, “Yup. My first date and I don’t even get to choose the person.” He said bitterly.

Richie looked at him, face unhappy. “That’s shitty.” 

Eddie nodded, “And I’m supposed to pay. That’s how this whole thing works. She pays for me then I take her out on a date of her choosing. It’s ridiculous. The whole thing reeks of traditional bullshit.” 

Richie was watching him and Eddie couldn’t read his expression. “She gets some one on one Spaghetti man time, most of us would kill for that.”

“Yea, ha ha. You’re hilarious.” Eddie replied, assuming Richie was joking. 

“What if you end up liking her?” He asked quietly. 

“Richie, I’m gay. It’s unlikely some lovely lady will turn me.” Eddie looked at him. “Why would you even think that?” 

“Dunno, just thinking out loud I guess.” Richie looked conflicted and was silent for a minute, a rarity for him. Eddie looked over and saw that he was kicking a rock. 

He was confused. Was Richie jealous? Of some imaginary girl that Eddie was definitely not interested in? Richie rarely asked about Eddie’s love life, mostly because there wasn’t much to ask, Eddie’s dating pool was limited in Derry and he was in love with his best friend.

Eddie had changed the subject, bringing up the english assignment they had just gotten. The two talked about how much of a fuck up Gatsby was the rest of the walk home. 

\-------

Eddie finished his walk and waited for the bidding to start. “Let’s start at five dollars. Do I have five dollars?”

A woman’s hand shot up. Eddie saw that it was a friend of his mom’s. She must have asked her to bid, so at least someone would. He winced, thinking about what a ‘date’ with her would be like. Probably doing chores. Or having tea. Both sounded awful. 

“Five dollars! Do I hear six?”

A girl’s hand shot up. Eddie squinted at her. It was Annabeth from his english class. They’d spoken a few times but were nowhere near friends. He was confused why she was bidding- but immediately preferred her to his mom’s friend. 

“Six! Do I hear seven?”

Eddie saw Greta’s hand shoot up and paled. He had been worried that she would bid on him only to make him relive past embarrassments. 

“Seven! Eight?”

Annabeth’s hand shot up again. Eddie was grateful for her. He watched as the bidding went on, adding a dollar every time. His anxiety grew as the bidding got up to twenty dollars. Surely Annabeth wouldn’t keep bidding. Greta was bidding out of spite and Annabeth, well, Eddie wasn’t sure. 

“Twenty five dollars for this little guy! Twenty six?” 

“Thirty!” Great said, flashing a menacing smile at Eddie. He worried about what sort of date she had planned. It could be anything from making him clean her house to forcing him to actually take her out. He didn’t want to find out. He wished he had known Annabeth would bid, he would have given her additional money for it. 

“Forty!” Annabeth shouted. 

“Forty dollars! That might be our highest bid of the day! Forty one, do I hear forty one?” Greta stared daggers at Annabeth, seeming to decide that Eddie’s shame wasn’t worth that much. “Going once, going twice- sold for forty dollars to the girl with the braids!” The announcer turned to Eddie, “Well done son!” He clapped Eddie on the back. Eddie tried to move back, only thinking about the germs on his hands from touching people and the microphone. 

Eddie retreated back to the backstage, happy it was over. He was relieved that Greta hadn’t won but confused about Annabeth. As he waited for her to pay and come collect him he considered the situation. What if she liked him? What if this was a grand gesture and she thought he would like her back? He started to panic, trying to think of ways to let her down easy. Maybe his mom’s friend would have been better. She would have been safer at least. 

She showed up, holding his ‘TAKEN’ sash in her hands. 

“Hi,” He said awkwardly. He had a pleasant impression of her but didn’t know anything about her. He tried to think of her last name and nothing came. 

“Hi Eddie!” She said brightly, putting the sash over him. She grabbed his hand, “Let’s go watch the rest.”

He let himself be lead out to the crowd. He desperately wanted to go to his friends but knew he needed to stay with her. 

“Thanks for not letting Greta win.” He told her as they stopped, turning to watch the others be auctioned off.

She laughed lightly, “Yea, she’s the worst. Don’t worry.” She turned her attention to the stage where a middle aged man was being bid on. 

Eddie contemplated adding more but didn’t know what to say. Annabeth seemed happy to stand with him in silence. 

He looked for the losers but couldn’t find them in the growing crowd. They may have left after his bid ended. 

As the auction ended he looked at her, biting his bottom lip. “So, what did you want to do for this date?” He asked nervously.

She laughed, a light airy one. “Eddie, you’re great but I didn’t bid on you. A friend of yours paid me to make sure you got bid on- and that he won. Don’t worry.”

Eddie let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god.” His eyes widened as he realized how that sounded. “Sorry! Not that you’re not great. You just aren’t my type.”

She laughed again. “Yea, I have boobs.” She grabbed his hand again, “We just need to make it look realistic until we’re away from everyone. Your friend is meeting us at the movie theatre.” 

Eddie again followed her, feeling better than he had in weeks. The auction was over and his friends had saved him. He felt a surge of gratitude to them. 

He talked to Annabeth as they walked, finding they had more in common than he expected.

“So you’re not an avid rock collector?” She joked.

He cringed. “No, my mom wrote it. I hate rocks. They’re dirty.” 

They reached the theatre and Eddie looked for his friends. No one was there. 

“Well, I’m supposed to leave you here. I’m getting paid Monday so I don’t need to hang around now.” She released his hand, smiling again.

“Thank you, really.” He told her. “Without you I’d be with Greta now.” 

She shrugged, “Not a problem. I got paid, and I got to steal a victory from her. It was a good day for me.” She started to walk away, “Bye! Nice talking to you!”

Eddie waved, “Bye!” 

He leaned against the building, waiting for his friends. It had been a ridiculous day and he was excited to see his friends and hang out with them. 

He saw Richie’s dark hair pop out a minute later, alone. “Hey Eds,” He said nervously.

“Hey Richie! Where’s everyone else?” Eddie walked over to him.

“It’s just me.” Richie said, putting his hands in his front pockets and leaning back.

“You bought me?” Eddie asked, surprised. 

Richie nodded. “I didn’t want you on a date with someone else.” He said, watching Eddie’s expression.

Eddie’s brain thought about all the possible meanings of that statement and settled on skepticism. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“I don’t want to see you with anyone else.” Richie paused, running a hand through his hair. “Ever.” He added protectively.

Eddie’s heart started to race, “Richie, what are you saying?”

Richie groaned, “Isn’t it obvious? Do I have to say it?” He had a pained expression.

Eddie nodded, “Yes, you have to say it.” 

Richie growled.“Fine. I like you. I think you like me to. I hope, or I’m a total idiot. Stan told me to bid on you when he got sick of me complaining about you being on a date with a girl. He said he’d tell you if I didn’t. So I did. Bid on you. And tell you.” His eyes scanned Eddie’s face, keeping some distance between them. 

Eddie gaped at him, shocked. “Eds, say something.” Richie pleaded, starting to look worried.

Eddie smiled shyly. “You’re right. I like you too.” 

Richie exhaled. “Thank fucking god. I felt like an idiot.” 

They both stood, grinning stupidly at each other for a few minutes. 

“What now?” Eddie finally asked. 

Richie turned serious. “Now you have to take me on a date. Thems the rules. I want a movie and dinner.” He gestured to the theatre.

Eddie laughed. “Well you did win me. Let’s go.” He grabbed Richie’s hand. “Let’s go on that date.” He thought about how his mom wasn’t entirely wrong about how he might end up on a date with the person of his dreams. And how much she’d hate it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hai. I’m trying to write some one shots. Not let every fic turn into 9 or 10 chapters. So here’s a one shot! (Though I kinda want to write the date that comes after…but two chapters is basically a one shot, right? Right.)
> 
> Do any towns actually do this? I think it’s just a TV/Movie thing. Which is good, it’d be super weird IRL.


End file.
